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Top 10 Foods You Must Eat In Bali

Balinese food gets me excited every time we come back to Indonesia’s most popular holiday spot. I get excited about unpretentious flavours and time-tested spices that result in mouth-watering food that I just can’t get enough of.

While other Southeast Asian cuisines may offer a similar selection of dishes, many foods in Bali have a unique twist with tantalising flavours.

Next time you are relaxing in Bali, you simply must try all ten of these.

1. Pisang Goreng

Let’s start with dessert. Because nothing is sweeter than my all-time favourite – fried bananas. Bali has such a variety of bananas from the small, sweet varieties to the large ones that look like a weapon. The different types make fried bananas a treat each time. Served with honey or palm sugar syrup, a little bit of flaked coconut or vanilla ice cream or just plain from the roadside stalls, nothing is better than Pisang Goreng.

Golden delicious fried bananas with palm syrup and coconut

2. Mie Goreng

A classic Indonesian staple of fried noodles is often served with vegetables and a choice of chicken, shrimp or pork. Sometimes it served with a fried egg on top, chicken sate sticks, prawn crackers and peanut sauce. Oh, and don’t forget the pickled vegetables. Josh’s favourite.

3. Nasi Goreng

Similar to Mie Goreng, but fried rice instead of noodles. This is the most popular staple of the Balinese. They literally eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rice is grown all over Bali, so there’s no shortage of this grain all year round. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad Nasi Goreng in Bali – every chef knows how to do it justice, from the 5 star resorts the roadside stalls. So simple yet so delicious.

We’ve eaten it so often but ironically we never got around to taking a shot. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

4. Sate

Unlike its Malaysian counterpart, Indonesian sate is not satay. Mashed chicken is blended with an array of spices, melded onto a stick (usually lemongrass) and barbequed. Unless written on the menu, it probably won’t include peanut sauce While we prefer the chicken sate (sate ayam), Indonesia specialises in fish sate (lilit ikan).

Beware when ordering this – it’s nose-to-tail dining, so you might receive an obscure piece of pork on your plate. Enjoy!

This was too delicious to photograph. So here’s a photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

6. Nasi Campur

A local favourite, Nasi Campur means “mixed rice” and usually consists of small portions of vegetables, fish or meat with a mound of steamed rice. There’s no 1 “right” combination of flavours, so it’s rarely the same. That is what makes it so fun – you never know exactly what you’re going to get. Think of it as an Indonesian antipasto.

Sorry, I ate this too quickly. There was no time for a photo. So here’s a photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

7. Bebek Betutu

Smoked duck is probably one of the more unique dishes in Bali. The duck is rubbed and stuffed with a mix of spices, wrapped in an areca palm leaf or betel nut bark and smoked with the embers of rice husks. Most restaurants require one day’s notice since cooking takes around 12 hours.

8. Mini Rijsttafel

A mini rijstafel is a meal to be shared. Rijsttafel is a Dutch word that literally means “rice table”, a name that has stuck since colonial times. Depending where you order, it usually comes out all at the same time and contains a mixed selection of Balinese and Indonesian delicacies like Bebek betutu (smoked duck), chicken with sambal, prawns, pork & chicken sates, sayur urap (mixed Bali vegetables), potato croquettes, tempe, tofu and yellow nasi tumpeng (rice cone).

9. Spring Rolls

Who doesn’t love crispy spring rolls? Filled with mixed vegetables and minced chicken, served with a peanut sauce or a sweet chilli sauce. A winner every time.

10. Gado-Gado

“Mix-mix” is one of Indonesian’s best-known dishes. Essentially it is a vegetable salad bathed in a classic peanut sauce. While it’s a cold salad, I think it would taste awesome warm too. At its base are boiled long beans, spinach, potato, corn, egg and bean sprouts coupled with cucumber, tofu and tempe.

I particularly love that most ingredients in these dishes are sourced locally so they’re as fresh as can get. Spice mixes are made by hand. There’s little reliance on processed ingredients.

Spices used in a Balinese cooking class.

You might just discover a new favourite flavour sensation or realise it’s not your cup of tea. That’s the beauty of being adventurous with food. But one thing is for sure; once you’ve conquered all these Balinese dishes your tastebuds will be dancing like never before.

Here's what you have to say...

Love this post... Bali was one of our favorite destinations and you are spot on their food is high up there on my list of favorites!! Reading this has me drooling and wanting to go back. We haven't been with the kids. Maybe now is the time ;)

Posted by
Raghav Iyer
on
Jul 9th, 2015

Awesome! I love trying different types of foods and Bali seems to have dishes as popular as it is! Among the non veggies, I loved the look of Sate and will definitely try it on my next visit there. And about the veggies, the good old Spring Rolls are my all time favorites. Nothing beats them, here or anywhere.

Posted by
Linda @As We Saw It
on
Nov 2nd, 2015

Oh wow, you hit every single one of my favorite Balinese foods! The only one I wasn't crazy about was babi guling, which was usually so spicy that my tongue went into shock. But the Balinese duck? Heaven.

Posted by
Bayu Amus
on
Nov 8th, 2015

Hi Erin and Josh, thanks for sharing the list. Out of curiosity, what do you think about the more authentic Balinese dishes like Lawar, Nyat nyat, Fish head soup, is there a chance you would give those a try too?

Posted by
Nathalie
on
Mar 20th, 2016

Thank you for the great list...they all look delicious We have yet to visit Asia and one of my concerns is that my husband is allergic to nuts :-( would he survive there ?

Posted by
marta
on
Jun 17th, 2016

I would add fried tiny black eels. They look horrible but taste great:-)

Posted by
stephanie
on
Jan 29th, 2017

Satay and gado gado are by far my favorites!
x

Posted by
Sue Robson
on
Mar 27th, 2017

You forgot to mention Kangkung ! Fell in love with it on the 1st trip to bali & have it every time i go back. Miss my Bali food
so must be time for another trip ;)

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Hi there!

My name is Josh and I'm an Aussie who has been travelling the world non-stop for 6 years, and explored 70+ countries so far. I'll help make your next vacation awesome with first-hand guides and essential travel tips.

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